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You'd think with the trend towards organic, whole and healthy eating these rates would be going down rather than going up as they are. I wonder if all the fad diets have something to do with it. The keto diet doesn't seem healthy to me and it's all the rage right now. You have people on that diet eating cheese, bacon and sausage as if nothing and like it's healthy. The Atkins diet from the beginning of the century didn't seem healthy either.
Is anyone shocked that the fattest region of the US is the one that identifies with unhealthy foods and driving everywhere, and that also has less access to affordable to healthcare/health insurance on purpose? Go ahead and make fun of "coastal liberal elites" for our healthier foods, walkable cities, public transit, and higher quality healthcare/health insurance/Medicaid expansion.
You'd think with the trend towards organic, whole and healthy eating these rates would be going down rather than going up as they are. I wonder if all the fad diets have something to do with it. The keto diet doesn't seem healthy to me and it's all the rage right now. You have people on that diet eating cheese, bacon and sausage as if nothing and like it's healthy. The Atkins diet from the beginning of the century didn't seem healthy either.
-Generational poverty makes it challenging for families to eat healthy because healthy foods are often more expensive. Not only the healthier grocers and organic versions of foods, but the chain restaurants we encounter. While a place like Panera is not actually healthy per se, it's much healthier than most fast food/fast casual. You can get a healthy-ish salad and soup combo for lunch. However, that's far more expensive than a McDonald's meal and impoverished neighborhoods often don't even have a Panera-like establishment anywhere nearby.
-Food/grocery deserts force poor families in forgotten neighborhoods to eat unhealthy foods because they lack access to healthy foods and sometimes the nearest grocery store is quite a distance away. The grocery stores that do exist in their neighborhoods often lack high quality produce.
-Proliferation of fast food causes potentially healthier mom and pop places to close their doors because of competition. It also makes buying unhealthy food easier. It also creates a memory in your head of "wow that burger looks great I should pick one up when I drive by one of the 18 (insert fast food restaurant)s on my way home from work."
-Exurban living requiring a car for the most menial of all tasks so the most people walk is to/from the car/home/office/store. If you can't walk for a single thing in your area and are forced to drive, you're becoming more sedentary unless you habitually workout. Then that trickles down to not even walking when it is totally feasible and the better option. I worked with a lady who offered to drive for lunch one day when I was the new kid. I thought the restaurant must be far. No...we drove literally 3 small-town city blocks to a small deli where the only sides were coleslaw and potato salad. Three. Blocks. She would not walk three blocks for lunch.
-For-profit health insurance systems do not create preventative healthcare. They'd rather treat you than cure you because that's where the money is at. Why stop someone from becoming obese if you can then make money off all of their ailments stemming from obesity? Obesity can often be a cause of other diseases that go un-diagnosed and untreated because people lack access to primary care doctors.
Those factors lead to an increase for all demographics contained within them. Then there is the issue of the far-right and rural white Americans viewing healthy diets as "liberal elitist" or "too gay" for them. Before anyone jumps down my throat and argues that point, I met plenty of conservative white men who were afraid to eat too many vegetables and made sure to buy excessive amounts of red meat because it was "manly" and only the gays would eat a salad or too many vegetables with dinner.
Then there is also the rising economic groups. Recently, Mexico became the most obese nation in the world. The cause is two-fold. First, the proliferation of American fast food restaurants making it easier to find unhealthy food. Second, Mexico is becoming a wealthier nation. No longer must everyone eat homemade meals for cost-effective reasons. More families can afford to eat out occasionally. However, they can't afford the healthy restaurants, so they're going to the McDonald's type establishments. In the US, it's almost reversed. The middle class is shrinking. Wages are stagnating. I bet a lot of families who used to have more money and used to eat healthier are now in that income range where eating out means McDonald's, not something better for you. And that income range doesn't allow someone to buy healthy/organic foods usually. Also, in smaller towns, the small grocers can't compete against the proliferation of Walmart. But Walmart isn't stocking the same quality produce and their locations may be further away, rather being a neighborhood grocer.
In cities like NYC, DC, LA, SF, etc. you can walk down the street in most neighborhoods and find individual small grocers often with some pretty healthy options and produce. People aren't afraid of eating organic/healthy. People can more often afford the healthier options. People can walk to more places and the places are more varied rather than just fast food.
Is anyone shocked that the fattest region of the US is the one that identifies with unhealthy foods and driving everywhere, and that also has less access to affordable to healthcare/health insurance on purpose? Go ahead and make fun of "coastal liberal elites" for our healthier foods, walkable cities, public transit, and higher quality healthcare/health insurance/Medicaid expansion.
I’m up in Seattle. These people are almost too skinny. Have not seen many fats
You'd think with the trend towards organic, whole and healthy eating these rates would be going down rather than going up as they are. I wonder if all the fad diets have something to do with it. The keto diet doesn't seem healthy to me and it's all the rage right now. You have people on that diet eating cheese, bacon and sausage as if nothing and like it's healthy. The Atkins diet from the beginning of the century didn't seem healthy either.
A lot of people can't afford those foods. In rural areas, they're often completely unavailable.
You'd think with the trend towards organic, whole and healthy eating these rates would be going down rather than going up as they are. I wonder if all the fad diets have something to do with it. The keto diet doesn't seem healthy to me and it's all the rage right now. You have people on that diet eating cheese, bacon and sausage as if nothing and like it's healthy. The Atkins diet from the beginning of the century didn't seem healthy either.
That trend may be just coastal and larger flyover cities though
Its so much cheaper to out poorly than to eat healthy in this country.
Sorry I don’t mean to shoot the messenger, but that is 100% false. I’m so tired of hearing this ignorant excuse. It’s much easier to eat fast food, but not cheaper.
As long as you know how to plan meals and are wise enough to shop for your proteins and vegetables amongst the stores having them on sale that week it’ll always be cheaper. For example, I can (and just did) make a huge omelet/scramble (egg whites) with tomatoes, onions, and peppers with a side of baked home fries for less than $2. Last night we had chicken breasts with wild rice and broccoli that came out to maybe $2 a plate. I just chopped up the leftover chicken and mixed it with avocado to make a healthy chicken salad that’ll be my lunch at the cost of $2 (only because of the avocado). Tell me how fast food, even off a dollar menu, would be cheaper?
Sorry I don’t mean to shoot the messenger, but that is 100% false. I’m so tired of hearing this ignorant excuse. It’s much easier to eat fast food, but not cheaper.
As long as you know how to plan meals and are wise enough to shop for your proteins and vegetables amongst the stores having them on sale that week it’ll always be cheaper. For example, I can (and just did) make a huge omelet/scramble (egg whites) with tomatoes, onions, and peppers with a side of baked home fries for less than $2. Last night we had chicken breasts with wild rice and broccoli that came out to maybe $2 a plate. I just chopped up the leftover chicken and mixed it with avocado to make a healthy chicken salad that’ll be my lunch at the cost of $2 (only because of the avocado). Tell me how fast food, even off a dollar menu, would be cheaper?
Good health all comes down to diet and exercise.
You're right. Planning becomes part of everything. Eating healthy can be more time-consuming, but not always more expensive. However, in poorer communities, people are not often working regular 9-5 jobs. It can be harder to plan a meal for the family when people have shift work that varies, the family isn't always together, both parents are working odd hours, everyone comes home tired from more difficult labor jobs, etc. It's not a cut and dry "just buy healthy and cook when you get home" for every household.
Additionally, your location is San Diego. San Diego is privileged for being located in CA with easy access to quality produce. And I assume you also live in at least a somewhat nicer part of the city. I apologize for the assumption if you don't, but just roll with me on it for this example. You can easily go to a grocery store that has edible fruits and vegetables and raw meats. Someone who lives in an impoverished, rural area of the Midwest/South does not live near such a grocer. Someone who lives in a neighborhood with generational poverty in any city likely does not have the same access to produce that you do. They often get the leftovers and the not-as-good produce. Food deserts are a real thing that plague impoverished neighborhoods of large cities just as much as they plague rural small town America who could only be so lucky to have a single Walmart.
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